[MableX]

I have lived in Litchfield County for 10 years. Washington, New Preston, Litchfield and now Torrington. It has been miserable for me finding like minded people. I am continued to be shocked at the lack of social skills in the locals. It's almost impossible to get people to engage in conversation. I've worked as a newspaper features writer for 2 Litchfield County papers, worked for 2 prep schools, children's librarian, and a upscale gourmet food store bookkeeper.

The reason why I moved here was because my partner of 21 years got a great job in Washington. Friends and family who lived here at the time said it was close to NYC and lots of gays, lesbians and liberals.Ha! The friends and family who told us that have moved on to other states for better social and economic opportunities.

No one said that the roads are horrible. No real West-East highway and the closest train to Litchfield County is in Wingdale, NY and you must cross covered bridges and terrifying twisting roads to get there. There's also the Waterbury train station, if you want to get to NYC in almost three hours and risk your car being stolen before you get back. I usually travel an hour to the Southeast railroad station in Carmel, NY since I can get there by I-84.

Now I live in Torrington because I bought a home a couple of years ago, and soon will be commuting to Farmington for work. I do not look forward to the commute, but really looking forward to meeting new people who live outside Litchfield County.

I introduced myself to the mayor of Torrington and was shocked at how clueless he really is. His eyes are like gazing into an aquarium. There's nothing there. He looks the part and that seems to go a long way. Since he's been in office there has been no revitalization to the downtown that was one of his main platforms. And the citizens re-elected him.

Also, why are there so many pizza and Italian restaurants and practically no other cuisine? Can everyone eat pizza all the time? Are they money laundering fronts?

Maybe it's because I'm a lesbian, ivy-educated and a Southerner, so that mix may be hard for people to read. But my partner and I are lonely here and the funny thing is that we are both attractive women, have hundreds of friends all over the country, men, women, gay, straight, etc. But I think the one thing that seems to be missing here is a sense of humor. Everyone seems to take themselves so seriously. Maybe the only people I try to engage are descendants of Puritans.

This is not a place where I want to grow old. But Thank God it's a Blue State.

[mbhoakct76]

ya i have to agree with someone else who said torrington is in decline.
They have been talking about revitilization for years now with nothin done, some of downtown looks better but all of the area surrounding downtown is still attracting people who just dont care and wreck their rents that end up with many houses in blight, as for neighborhoods-they have gotten worst, crime has gotten worst. Taxes keep going up but crime is not being battled, just go drive through these neighborhoods- it looks as though nobody is proud to live there.
Although there are some nice areas of town- there are not many ...
and they are spread out to the outskirts of town and are way to costly, especially when compared to surrounding towns.
There are industrial park properties that should house huge booming buisnesses that employ hundreds of people- instead they are empty and for sale.
It is a economicly depressed city and has been for a while, and although they have the means to bring it back to a desireable town---its not happening.

[HeadedWest]

Originally Posted by Srib

Perhaps you don't understand because some of us on these forums would prefer to accentuate the positive when asked rather than focus on the negatives ...

Gee, wouldn't a balanced, truthful picture be the best way to advise people?

[Uconn97]

Originally Posted by HeadedWest

Gee, wouldn't a balanced, truthful picture be the best way to advise people?

It is, but wouldn't a balanced, truthful picture look at both the plusses and the minuses? Most people can't seem to do that around here.

[bluecountry]

I actually had a couple of questions about Torrington.
I much have liked the Mountains of CT.
I wanted to know

1) Is this area considered rural, suburban, or a mix?
-Is it endanger or undergoing sprawl?

2) Would you consider it more NE or tri state NY...or both?

3) What's the split like sports?
-Is it like FF...NY based...mixed...or Boston based?
-I would assume since it is closer to NYC than Boston...and near FF county and NYC metro counties...the people here would naturally be inclined to root for NY teams overwhlemingly...more if you factor in those who vacation from NY.

[Dee79]

Gee.. This post is depressing me. I'm glad I found this board today but.. It's depressing! My DH owns his own garage in Torrington. More of a storage nowadays but anywho. We own 27 acres on the good side/non ghetto side of Torrington for several years now. In hopes of one day building our dream house. At the time the crime was nothing and the school systems were great.

What happens.. A few years later BAM. My husbands garage gets broken into, the neighbors deli gets robbed. (Moron got caught and hopefully the guy who broke into ours will be as well) I found out on East Main street near E. Pearl St. There is a crack house across the street from the church and a moron OD'd on Heroin on the front steps and died.

What is happening to our dream little town?? Where we hoped to build our dream house on our dream property and raise our kids then retire.. It makes me think twice about moving up there.. Will our land be worth anything in a few years when we go to sell it?.. Will it continue to decline in popularity and increase in crime? Will the filth continue to migrate north to a less expensive part of the state? I hope not..

[amgor863]

If you're so miserable why are you staying...?

Pizza and Italian restaurants--automatically organized crime. You wouldn't like it if others generalized your sexual orientation... think about it.

[brasscitybluenwhite]

Originally Posted by Uconn97

It is, but wouldn't a balanced, truthful picture look at both the plusses and the minuses? Most people can't seem to do that around here.

lol, this is the truest statement I've heard. Balanced and truthful? look at the pictures of waterbury..lol, someone threw balanced and truthful out the window.

they should do away with the pictures section

[Uconn97]

don't really need to get rid of the pictures section, but people need to be honest and post the good and the bad. I rarely see any posts or pictures on here that do that. Depending on ones agenda is how the info is presented - waterbury is a dump so lets post only pictures of the boarded up buildings and ignore the rest - people do sh** like this all the time.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by MableX

I No one said that the roads are horrible. No real West-East highway and the closest train to Litchfield County is in Wingdale, NY and you must cross covered bridges and terrifying twisting roads to get there.

LOL You know how many people pay big money to have access to those covered bridges and "terrifying twisting roads". LOL



That's what I love about New England. It's not a grid with cookie cutter subdivisions with folks organized by their economic standing and endless strip malls.

I guess that's why it's a big country - there's room for everyone to find their spot.